Santol ( ga - torn )

Santol is a soft, sour, pulpy fruit that's easy to find at the markets in Thailand. To eat in it's ripe form, you peel off the outer skin, pull out the pulpy seeds with your fingers and suck off the flesh from the large seed. A great deal of work for what is a sour, otherwise flavourless fruit.

However there is another way to eat it that's excellent.

In the photo above this is how Santol is sold when boiled in sugar syrup and left for a few days. You can see that the outer flesh is included in this, the seeds have been removed and it's presented very nicely.

It's delicious like this. The outer part is a little sour, the inner part is sweet and soft and sort of like sherbet. If you want to taste Santol, look for it in this form.